Reference Books

Health and Safety for Museum Professionals

Download Errata for Chapter 9, Table 9 (Pesticides, pp. 311-326)Click here to purchase volume
The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections have jointed forces on the ultimate reference book for museum professionals: Health and Safety for Museum Professionals, edited by Catharine Hawks, Michael McCann, Kathyrn Makos, Lisa Goldberg, David Hinkamp, Dennis Ertel, and Patricia Silence.
This comprehensive volume is treated in three parts:
Part 1: Principles of Safety and Health - fire protection, occupational hazards, and waste management.
Part 2: Specific Hazards (particulates, chemical hazards, and toxins, physical, mechanical, and electrical hazards, and radiation).
Part 3: Museum Work (facilities management, emergency salvage, collections management, fieldwork, conservation and restoration, and exhibit protection and maintenance).
The nineteen chapters were written by top specialists in their field.
This hardcover book is nearly 650 pages and is sure to be heavily used at your museum!
Purchase price $95.Health and Safety for Museum Professionals - available at University Products

Museum Studies: Perspectives & Innovations

Stephen L. Williams and Catharine A. Hawks, Editors

This book honors the memory of Carolyn L. Rose, a founding member of SPNHC and an individual who dedicated her career to the preservation of cultural property through unwavering professionalism and a strong commitment to academic education. Topics addressed include: Professionalism in Museums; Academic Programs; and Challenges in Museums. It comprises 19 chapters by professionals and students in the field of museum studies, demonstrating some of the depth and diversity of new information that is produced in academic environments serving the museum field.

The book is soft bound and 281 pages and available from University Products for $29.95.
To order: use the Order Form (from University Products Inc.)

MuseumWise: Workplace Words Defined

A glossary of terms encountered in the management and preservation of collections. A project of the Documentation Committee of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. Includes terms derived from 48 bibliographic references as well as numerous additions from the editors.

Managing the Modern Herbarium

Deborah A. Metsger and Sheila C. Byers, editors

This book highlights the significance and value of one of the world's oldest and most basic elements of botanical systematics, the herbarium. It combines practical guidleines for the proper care of documented collections of preserved plants and fungi with recommendations for the responsible use in modern systematic research. Though focusing on collections of plants and fungi, the book also provides a useful model for other disciplines.

SPNHC Reference Manuals

Storage of Natural History Collections: A Preventive Conservation Approach

Carolyn L. Rose, Catharine A. Hawks, Hugh H. Genoways, editors

ISBN: 0963547615

Storage of Natural History Collections: A Preventive Conservation Approach includes the work of 37 authors and more than 100 reviewers, editorial assistants, illustrators, and others who donated their time to the project.

The 458 page book (x + 448), includes five sections, a glossary of 262 terms used in the book, and an 18 page index.

As the Preface states "... this new text provides the basic information required to select storage approaches that are appropriate in a particular set of circumstances, and to make informed judgments about all aspects of collection environments."

Storage of Natural History Collections: Ideas and Practical Solutions

Rose, C.L. and de Torres, A.R., editors, 1992 (reprint 2002)

ISBN 0963547607

This unique volume includes 113 articles on the practical applications of storage systems for everything from vertebrate teeth to ethnic costumes to large fossils.
All articles were written and reviewed by professionals in the fields of conservation and collections management.

Each article details step-by-step instructions for the construction of support and storage systems for various types of museum collections. The articles are grouped into subsections such as supports, containers, shelving, and organizational systems. The book also includes a glossary of terms, lists of materials, and names and addresses of manufacturers and suppliers.